I grant this work to the public domain. Ed Smith is writing a new book on dealing with demons, entitled "Reframing the Devil: A Non-warfare Perspective of the Defeated Kingdom of Darkness." Based on what he has revealed about this work in progress, I have to agree with him that this new book has "the potential of causing the same sort of paradigmatic shift in thinking as what [we] witnessed with the release of the Theophostic training manuals for the first time."
He states that he is going to "reframe the view of spiritual warfare and demonology in the same way we had to Theophostically reframe the traditional views of conflict and pain." Smith says "I have come to believe whole-heartedly that God is a God of conflict (in that conflict is His primary means of accomplishing change in His Church.)" After elaborating on his theory about conflict being good, he uses it as an analogy to "reframe" the devil's work as good:
"This same sort of major reframing must be made if we are to truly understand the purpose of Satan and the demonic kingdom in the world. We must understand why the demonic is present here on earth, what is its Divine purpose, and how can we work in concert with God, to best benefit from Satan's involvement in our lives. In the same way we have run from and avoided conflict, we have misunderstood the Divine purpose of evil in the world. God had a plan when He made the decision to place the devil in our paradise. Yet embracing this plan requires a paradigmatic shift in our warfare thinking. Far too long we have seen the devil as someone we must battle, defeat and overcome. If this was truly the case, then God gave us a pretty dirty deal. It sure puts God in a bad light if He put us in a paradise and sicked the devil on us and made it our responsibility to overcome him. If God could destroy him with His breath (which he will someday do) then why would he stand back and allow Satan to get by with what he does if it were not for a Divine purpose. Maybe Satan's leash is not as long as we have thought it to be. Maybe he is only carrying out what God's ultimate intention is allowing. Maybe God is truly a sovereign God and this chaotic mess we call the world is actually under the control and loving hand of its originator and creator. Maybe conflict and suffering falls into the category of God's will? If this is so 'let those who suffer according to God's will commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.' 1Peter 4:19" (emphasis in original)
Note that these are his own words, not mine. He continues:
"Actually we already have much of the truth we just have not yet learned to appropriate it. We already believe that Jesus defeated Satan and that we are totally victorious. We know (at least cognitively) that we have been 'given all authority,' we are 'more than conquerors' and that we have 'overcome him by the word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb.' but yet knowing all of this we are still engaged in warfare. I simply cannot make it mentally work to say that I am totally victorious and yet I still have to fight. If I won the game why do I have to go into overtime? I am going to address this issue and much more in the pages to follow. I want the Church to know that the battle is truly over and there is no more warfare to be had. Satan already knows this, but is happy to accommodate us in 'wrestling' needlessly." (emphasis in original)
So there we have it. After a few mental gymnastics in Ed Smith's brand of psycho-theology are performed, complete with a bible verse here and there to rationalize it, we come to another allegedly innovative conclusion that has somehow escaped the church for 2000 years: The devil's work in our lives is God ordained and therefore good, there's no reason to fight, and if we have believed otherwise, we just need to expose that as a lie to be released from in our thinking.
So much for spiritual warfare.
Again, it is painfully obvious that Ed Smith and his "30,000"-some trained devotees are about to take the devil's deception to new depths. Again, Ed Smith reveals how naive and spiritually and doctrinally immature he is, an easy pawn for the devils game, which is once again more sophisticated than Ed Smith realizes.
What does scripture say to all this?
EPH 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [11] Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. [12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. [13] Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. [14] Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, [15] and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. [16] In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. [17] Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
JAS 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
1PE 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. [9] Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
ISA 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
I anticipate that Ed Smith's new theory will be a wake up call for some who may have up to this time only had reservations about Theophostic Ministry, while others who are committed to his psychology/philosophy will accelerate their path away from sound doctrine and sober-minded thinking.
What will he think of next?
I grant this work to the public domain.